Cockpit is typical Mini, so extrovert with pleasing aesthetics and frustratingly poor ergonomics

Fans of the Mini marque will feel comfortable in familiar, stylish surroundings

Rear cabin is surprisingly roomy with the 60/40 split seats slid all the way back

Boot capacity is below par with rear seats folded, and floor is far from flat

Speedo needle is on the outside, where it’s all but useless

Legislation means switches can't stand out in case of injury, hence the loops

Here the Cooper badge doesn’t represent sparkling performance

On MIRA’s mile straight the Cooper D All4 was unable to reach 100mph

Mini has ditched the diesel units it shared with PSA in favour of new BMW engine

Buyers have the choice of three petrol and three diesel engines

The basic chassis shows real promise

On our track it proved surprisingly entertaining and unintimidating

More an exercise in marketing than how to design a practical car

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Oddly, it is the current Mini Clubman that should be named Mini Countryman, given that the original 1961 Austin Mini Countryman was a two-door estate. The Countryman was notable particularly for the wooden inserts fitted to top-spec models to give it a visual link to the Morris Minor estate. But instead of a Mini estate, the Countryman name now represents a model that is not only the brand’s first-ever SUV but also its first four-wheel-drive vehicle.

The last time a Mini gained a four-metre-long, four-door sister model in its manufacturer’s range, it was 1969, a decade after the original model’s inception. Back then, the four-door in question was Alex Issigonis’s last design and the car was called (partly in homage to its smaller forebear) not Mini, but Maxi. This time around the sister model is still being called a Mini, with Countryman attached as a passing suffix. However, this modern-day ‘Maxi’ is built more than a thousand miles away from its UK-built Mini brethren at Magna Steyr’s plant in Graz, Austria.

The Countryman is Mini's first-ever SUV and also its first four-wheel-drive vehicle

What the Countryman does represent, however, is the biggest stretch yet for Mini – for the car and the brand. Never before has a Mini ventured to this size or level of practicality, in an effort to catch a new audience – or, perhaps, to retain a customer base that might otherwise grow out of its cars.

What has also increased is the price, though that doesn’t necessarily reflect a change of attitude; the modern Mini has long demanded a price beyond its size. It’s not at all hard to get a Countryman out of the showroom doors at a price of around £30,000 if you plunder the lengthy options list. However, it’s also possible to get a reasonably-equipped model for far less.

The range is vast, though, with two- and four-wheel drive versions, three petrol and two diesel engines, but a huge selection of trim and option pack varieties.